Do you separate pregnant rats?

[jasbus]

My view of the work is the opposite.

I have to clean tubs with multiple rats every week. Harem style breeding, like you use, requires me to move several adults and babies to a clean tub every week which causes stress for the rats and extra work for me.

I put each pregnant female in a lab cage alone and I don't have to clean it until the babies are almost two weeks old plus any days before she has the litter. Less stress for them and less work for me.

At that point I just move the mom and pups to a tub with one or two other females and pups. Everybody gets along and it's easier to keep on the pups when they're younger.

Yeah, LIke I said, which ever you choose...
I clean my cages once a week, no stress, all my rats are tame and used to me opening and closing tubs constantly.
When you have 250+ breeding females, moving preggos all the time becomes a hassle. I did try it for a while, built a momma condo of 72 bins, and hated it! Tore it apart and went back to harem breeding... Too much cleaning, and checking all the time.

[JohnNJ]

Yeah, LIke I said, which ever you choose...
I clean my cages once a week, no stress, all my rats are tame and used to me opening and closing tubs constantly.
When you have 250+ breeding females, moving preggos all the time becomes a hassle. I did try it for a while, built a momma condo of 72 bins, and hated it! Tore it apart and went back to harem breeding... Too much cleaning, and checking all the time.

You are 100% correct. I change my operation all the time so I may be doing it your way next week. It all depends on my mood.

There is no right or wrong way. Only what works best for you.

[snakesRkewl]

We separate all pregnant females to 20qt sterilite maternity racks
We have several of these and enjoy using them over harem breeding.

Middle 9 space rack